Tag Archive: Marina Sirtis

Let me start by saying Star Trek First Contact (ST:FC) isn’t a bad movie. It also wasn’t exactly what I was looking forward to. Mainly it’s the set up to the movie which bothered me. Heres the deal. Last time we’ve seen Picard and co. The Enterprise D had been destroyed. The only crew member we’ve seen since has been Worf since he came to Deep Space 9. So with Worf having moved off on his own, you’d imagine the others will all have done the same. Surely Riker has become captain of his own ship at this point. Data’s accumulated experience surely would make him more useful off of a star ship. So I’m pumped, the Borg are coming back and Picard has to round the crew up for one final stand. Except that’s not what happens. Continue reading →

There are a few laws to Star Trek. A couple of constants throughout the series which, whether the writers of this show mean it or not, are infallible. We all know the “Curse of the Red Shirt” truth, but there are other truths out there other than “Random ensigns who go on away missions will not survive.” Another of the same sort is that you do not want to be the other captain appearing on Star Trek. Meaning if this is The Original Series (TOS), you don’t want to be any captain but Kirk. The same will hold true throughout Next Generation (TNG) and will even creep into Deep Space 9 (DS9). If you are another Star fleet Captain of some other Federation ship and you so happen to appear in an episode, by the end you will either be dead or disgraced in one form or another. It’s sad, but its true, and that’s just the way it is.

I’m not entirely sure why half of the cast is smiling and the other half is sad.

Deep Space 9 (DS9) S2 continues along with its own blend of highly political dreariness. Following directly behind the footsteps of S1, the season primarily focuses on Bajor and their struggles to find itself. While S1 contained little more than whispers of who these characters truly are, and what the truth is in all aspects of the series, S2 begins to open up the saga. In some cases we find those we’ve known to be darker than we thought them to be. With others, particularly the Cardassians, we are led down a lighter path of understanding. The series is darker than the others, not just the sets I mean, but in terms of tone. And though the real darkness from S1 begins to turn a lighter shade of grey in S2, this is an aversion. Through a series of concerned looks the characters give one another whenever the word “Dominion” is mentioned we are consistently reminded of a huge unknown which grows more ominous with each mention. It’s good, and if the finale is any indication it’s about to get real good! I mention all of this at the beginning primarily to get it out of the way. This is not really a blog about DS9, no, this is a blog about the seventh and final season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Continue reading →

If you can believe it, the easy part of this multi-part, science-fiction series which takes place at specific parts of our own future, where the human race has joined in a highly political union of planets which we see from the perspective of one ship traveling around a small section of our own galaxy; is over. No, creating multiple shows of the same name was not quite enough for these guys. They had to go ahead and make these series take place at the exact same time. So did I get to simply sit back and leisurely click that “play next episode” button with season 6 of The Next Generation (TNG) as I had done with every other season of Star Trek? Absolutely not! Along comes Deep Space 9 (DS9), and below you will find an example of what I have to do in order to continue watching Star Trek in the correct order: Continue reading →

If you notice the hoses attached to our model Picard here, this head apparatus serves as a virtual reality drinking game which force feeds you the beer. Yes, the future is awesome.

As I stated well back in Part II, almost every episode of The Original Series (TOS) involves Kirk and Spock going down to some planet where the crew is faced with a situation to overcome. It seems that was their intention with The Next Generation (TNG) as well, as was evident in Season 1 especially. I’m fairly certain that what they intended TNG to be was just not what they ended up with. Like any good show though; they adapted. They noticed their strengths and worked with them. As it turned out what they ended up having was far superior to what their intentions were to begin with. More so, what they ended up with is something far superior than what TOS ever hoped to be. There… I said it. Continue reading →

The character of Invisbo, the invisible crew member (seen bottom-right) was cut at the last-minute. I wonder what could have been.

To really sit here and discuss the differences between Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS) and Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) is to give a course on the history and evolution of television itself. I need not mention the advancements in make up, prosthetics, and computer effects technologies. That should be apparent. When TOS was on air (1966-1968) television was barely in its adolescence. Ideas like back story, and giving multi-level depth to characters were just not regularly used on TV in those days. It was simply one hour vignettes about solving whatever problem is introduced today, and TOS is very representative of that style. As beloved as the original Star Trek cast is, most of them remain one-dimensional until the closing credits of Star Trek VI. Continue reading →